Comes A Horseman

If Frank Peretti's books creep you out, don't pick up Robert Liparulo's Comes A Horseman. But if you're brave, be prepared for a ride.

FBI agents Brady Moore and Alicia Wagner are on the trail of a serial killer, one who doesn't seem to have a pattern for who he kills. But his methods are the same - attack dogs, gruesome beheadings, and an odd emblem burnt into the victim's skin. Just as Brady and Alicia make the connection between the victims, the killer turns to them.

But things aren't as simple as one deranged murderer. A conspiracy a thousand years old threatens to shake the world. And a powerful man covets the title of . . . Antichrist.

Liparulo packs his novel with vivid imagery - almost too vivid for one unused to flayed flesh and gouged eyeballs. But the plot refuses to let you put the book down.

Another Publishing Credit

Infuze Magazine published my poem, "Don't Go." You may need to sign up to read it if you aren't already a member, but Infuze is an excellent magazine with tons of media news and creative works. I even have it as my homepage. This is my second poem published by them -yay!

It's odd, though, the success I've had with my articles, book reviews, and poetry while my short stories and novels languish. Short stories have placed in contests, but remain unpublished. I imagine this is a natural thing - articles meet a need and are queried first, stories just show up and are rather subjective. My book reviews are assigned, though I did get many rejections or no response from magazines I've queried. But my poetry: I submitted two to a magazine - they published one. I submitted two at different times to Infuze - they published both. And every article I've queried has been accepted by the first or second magazine I've tried.

But I haven't done much follow-up to this success. Fiction is my first love - articles just give me publishing credit and a bit of cash. And my expertise is limited, so it's hard finding a good idea for an article I can write well that fits magazines with which I'm familiar.

As far as NaNo goes, after a weekend away from home my one page is looking rather pathetic. I haven't been able to climb inside my main character very well, and since I'm writing in first person that makes things a bit awkward. So NaNoWriSe it is.

Oh No NaNo

I didn't get done. Winter still lacked 3,000 words at the end of October, though after today it's down to 2,500, so it shouldn't take too much longer.

I've discovered that my average writing day gives me about 500 words. So I'm more suited to NaNoWriSe - National Novel Writing Season. My best writing month was about 18,750 words (75 250-word pages) or 625 words a day. I want to get past that. I was hoping to do NaNo to push myself into that, but Winter has priority. It's a Christmas story, so I need to submit it now. I also have reviews and a round-up to finish. Churning out 2,000 words a day (not counting Sundays and Thanksgiving) on top of that - I don't think so. Besides, I'm thinking this young adult novel will be more in the 40,000-word range. And a suspense subplot is eluding me.

So I'm sort of doing NaNo. I'm not signed up, and this week should be rather sparse, but if the book takes off I'll throw myself into it. I have a word count spreadsheet set up. And early December seems rather empty beyond Christmas preparation, so I could finish the book then if need be.

221 words seems quite pitiful for today. But I'm trying a new method. Since I'm on this computer so much, I'm going to try writing out here, amid all the family distractions. My computer in my room says its battery's low, but I doubt I'll be able to get one soon (or ever - it's an old one). Plus, out here I get to enjoy my new yahoo station. I just found it yesterday and I'm rating songs and artists like crazy.

Found this on Brenda Coulter's blog:

My blog is worth $4,516.32.
How much is your blog worth?

Mine's worth a lot less than hers, but then I don't post nearly every day like she does.